Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into an audacious attempt to murder  using a deadly poison  a leading Russian defector at a restaurant in London.

Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin, was seriously ill under armed guard at a London hospital last night.

Alexander Litvinenko defected to Britain six years ago

A close friend of Mr Litvinenko said last night: "Alexander has no doubt that he was poisoned at the instigation of the Russian government." He has been living at a secret address in London with his wife and son because he feared he might be targeted by political opponents.

Mr Litvinenko is thought to have been poisoned with thallium, a colourless and odourless liquid that is often used to kill rats. It has been used in previous murder attempts of political opponents.

Sources close to the investigation said last night that the poison has attacked Mr Litvinenko's central nervous system and there are fears that he will never make a full recovery. His condition was described last night as "serious but stable".

The crime invoked memories of the murder of Georgi Markov, 49, the prize-winning Bulgarian author and broadcaster, who was poisoned as he waited with commuters on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. Mr Markov felt a pain in his thigh and three days later he was dead: the murder weapon was an umbrella, partly developed by the KGB, which fired a pellet the size of a pinhead, containing the poison ricin.

Mr Litvinenko defected to Britain six years ago but only became a British citizen last month. He is regarded as a traitor in his native Russia and friends suspect the FSB of trying to murder him.

He went to meet the woman journalist at Itsu on November 1 after she claimed to have information about the shooting of Miss Politkovskaya, also a fierce critic of President Putin. The next day, Mr Litvinenko complained of feeling unwell and was admitted to hospital. It was thought he had nothing more than a serious stomach upset but in recent days his condition has deteriorated. Friends say the journalist may have been a genuine contact but that political opponents may have discovered the venue for their meeting and slipped the poison into his meal or drink.

Tatiane Assis, the manager of Itsu, said that two detectives visited the restaurant yesterday. "They asked if we had CCTV. We said we didn't and they left without explaining why they had called." There is no suggestion that the restaurant, or its staff, had anything to do with the poisoning.

Deja Vu-the KGB used the Bulgarians to kill a critic in England a few years back. The poison was in the tip of an umbrella, that was used to inject the poison into the defector whose name escapes me...

The dissident that was assassinated (Georgi Markov) was a Bulgarian and most likely KGB's role was limited to granting a permission to the Bulgarian Communists to kill him. Markov (formerly an aparatchik himself) had been annoying the Bulgarian dictator for a while.

Murdering political opponents is a very old if not too accepted use of ruthless powers. Going back into the past it accounts for the deaths of various Roman Emperors and Renaissance princes, among many others.

It looks like Putin is not the democrat that many had hoped for, but he is a true alumnus of the KGB.

8
posted on 11/18/2006 5:42:02 PM PST
by Lucius Cornelius Sulla
(I went down in 1964 for Barry Goldwater with all flags flying! This is just a blip!)

Actually, it was much more of an engineering feat than that. It was a hollow sphere, about the size of a pinhead, with about five or six holes in it. The ricin was deposited inside the sphere, then coated with melted sugar to seal the holes. The little projectile was gas propelled, when coming into contact with the guy's leg. After, the sugar would dissolve, and the poison would be released. Quite clever, actually.

I wish I could get a job designing and building these clever gadgets for use against badguys.

Hmmm yes, kinda like people mysteriously cutting off their own heads and shooting htemselves in the back like what happened to people connected with Clinton & who had goods on him. Mysterious? Yeah, and I got swamp land in the Sahara I'd liek to sell too

It's the bitter taste of treason. He took an oath to his country and violated it. So he pays the penalty. Azzam the American will hopefully meet a similar fate. You never trust a sellout, even if he sells out to your own side.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will retain influence after he steps down in 2008, Reuters reports. Speaking during a live TV phone-in interview, Putin reiterated his commitment not to amend the country's constitution to stay on for a third term. At the same time, however, he added: "Even after I no longer have presidential powers I think that... I will be able to preserve the most important thing that is dear to any politician: your trust. Using this, we can together influence life in our country and guarantee that it develops in a continuous manner."

Andranik Migranyan, the renowned political scientist who heads the Public Chamber's commission on overall national strategy, wrote in Izvestia on October 10th that Putin could "remain in power" after 2008 if he becomes head of the United Russia party, becomes prime minister after the party's likely victory in the 2007 parliamentary elections and then picks "a person who is personally dependent on him and does not have his own political, financial, or information base" as United Russia's candidate for the 2008 presidential election. This, wrote Migranyan, would ensure Putin's "dominating influence in Russian political life," given that he would retain control of the government and the parliament while putting a loyalist in the Kremlin.

Putin is not going anywhere. But, not to worry, our president looked into his eyes and saw his soul.

While Soviet troops occupied Afghanistan in 1980, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) worked in close concert with high level Kremlin officials to alter the direction of U.S. policy, according to documents made available through a KGB defector.

Details concerning Kennedy's correspondence with KGB agents are included in the writings of the late Vasiliy Mitrokhin who defected to Britain in 1992.

The Mitrokhin papers highlight a meeting that took place at the behest of Kennedy between former Sen. John Tunney (D-Calif.) and KGB agents in Moscow on March 5, 1980.

"This, wrote Migranyan, would ensure Putin's "dominating influence in Russian political life," given that he would retain control of the government and the parliament while putting a loyalist in the Kremlin."

Putin is strategically grooming himself, coupled with his old KGB cronies, for the second reign of Uncle Joe and the West is acting like it's 1938 all over again, in terms of letting this vulture get away with murder.

Putin's expanding natural gas empire in that of Gazprom currently controls 25 percent of nearly one third of the world's total of proven reserves. That's a lot of potential blackmail especially direct against former Soviet captive nations that are demanding Russia stay out of their internal affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated he will retain influence after he steps down in 2008, Reuters reports. Speaking during a live TV phone-in interview, Putin reiterated his commitment not to amend the countrys constitution to stay on for a third term. At the same time, however, he added: Even after I no longer have presidential powers I think that... I will be able to preserve the most important thing that is dear to any politician: your trust. Using this, we can together influence life in our country and guarantee that it develops in a continuous manner.

Andranik Migranyan, the renowned political scientist who heads the Public Chambers commission on overall national strategy, wrote in Izvestia on October 10th that Putin could remain in power after 2008 if he becomes head of the United Russia party, becomes prime minister after the partys likely victory in the 2007 parliamentary elections and then picks a person who is personally dependent on him and does not have his own political, financial, or information base as United Russias candidate for the 2008 presidential election. This, wrote Migranyan, would ensure Putins dominating influence in Russian political life, given that he would retain control of the government and the parliament while putting a loyalist in the Kremlin.

"Putin is strategically grooming himself, coupled with his old KGB cronies, for the second reign of Uncle Joe and the West is acting like it's 1938 all over again, in terms of letting this vulture get away with murder."

Not to worry. I understand Germany is doing deals with the Rooskies. Big deals and pacts.

In another four years Germany will have a final solution for the Rooskies. Like in the old days. Socialist buddies always get along.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.